Chapter 9

Heavy Young Woman’s Packing

Before the sun sets, travel through the forest and pick up the carriage after gathering supplies in the city. If we spend the night sleeping in the carriage, we will be able to make accommodations in the next town over....., Percival points out their planned course on a spread out map.

On the other hand, Monette objected. Looking at the map, the distance between the two cities that Percival pointed to did not seem to be that far apart. Let alone riding a carriage, you should be able to walk between the city and town without night falling. Then they could stay overnight in a nice inn in an urban area and be refreshed and ready to leave for the town by morning.

Although she appealed so, Percival let out a large sigh and cast his eyes down onto the map.

“Monette, you better not believe that this will be just an ordinary trip.”

“........Ha.”

“In the past year, when Prince Alexis gets on a carriage, the wheels will fall off, the doors will be blown away, and the horses will go on a rampage.”

Monette narrowed her eyes to Percival’s words.

When she looked over at Alexis, his face looked worn down and his body was weighted with fatigue. Apparently even carriages couldn’t escape the prince’s curse of bad luck.

That’s why he wants to depart before day’s end. Besides, Alexis’s body was small and, “An inn inside the city is.....” When he mutters that with such a serious voice, Monette could only shrug her shoulders inside her armor and give in.

And so I started my first time packing.

I have been living alone in this castle for a long time. I don’t have much in my room. There are some rough characteristics that were here before I lived here, and a few things are scattered here and there.

A change of clothes, magic books, pen and parchment.....and while walking around, I judged whether something was necessary or not and packed it away in my trunk. If I bring a bunch of unnecessary things with me, I will have a hard time in the future having to repack everything......Although I’ve never had to repack something before.

Even though packing isn’t all that interesting, Percival was here for some reason watching the whole time.

Sometimes he would ask, “What’s that?”, and sometimes he would help me lift something heavy. Most of the time he would just silently gaze at me while thinking. And his eyes would follow me wherever I went in my room.

What do you want to do? Every time I look up to catch him, he turns away to look at a magic book with a strange expression and with wrinkles between his eyebrows. — — By the way, Alexis was fixing a chair. Well, it was uncertain if the man who was currently moaning after hitting his finger with a hammer could fix it in the first place — —

“Percival fix the chair, or please grab some bottles from the wine cellar that look like they could be expensive.”

“Are you going to sell them?”

“They are funds for me so that I can have some wild merrymaking on this journey.”

“I know. I won’t rely on your money.”

I decided to not reply to Percival’s dismissive tone and instead moved my focus back onto the trunk.

I then restarted my packing because talking to Percival is boring, and I didn’t really feel like chatting anyway. It will be fine if I just pick out a couple bottles from the wine cellar that look good. It’s easier than bothering to ask for any help from him. If there is something that would be bothersome to drive away, it’s better to just ignore it instead.

In other words, “If you have something to say, say it. I’m not gonna ask.” Currently, my interest was focused solely on the trunk.

While she was packing, Monette let out a small voice of surprise when she found a small drawing sticking out of the pages from a book.

The drawing was done completely in crayon. Two girls were drawn lined up together and holding hands. The lines were distorted, and the colors were unflattering. It was exactly the type of picture a child would draw.

As Monette looked at it, she narrowed her eyes inside her helmet. ... How nostalgic.

“Miss Monette, what is that?”

“It is a picture my sister and I drew when we were young.”

“Sister...”

Percival lightly tossed out the word, but he then tightly shut his lips as if that would prevent it from being heard. To that concern Monette could only close her eyes inside her helmet.

At the same time the figure of a young girl floated on the back of her eyelids. Her cute little sister, when she was young, her body was weak, and we spent a lot of time together in our summer resort. In that villa where there was nothing, both of us drew pictures all the time and talked about our dreams.

Eating sweets, drawing with crayons on paper, and playing with toy jewelry. It was just us sisters, putting on beautiful dresses while having ourselves a tea party.

“I want to be a glittering princess.”

The day when I had said those words went across my mind.

...and then I folded up the construction paper as if to scrape away that mental image. Of course I can’t put this in the trunk.

“Percival, if you are just going to stand there and watch, how about helping me instead?”

“Miss Monette......”

“I want to leave early, so you could also get some sleep so that you don’t impede on my innocence.”

Monette interrupts Percival’s words, and his breath gets caught a little as he understands Monette’s meaning.

Since he noticed the complaint, “Do not touch me anymore,” that was included underneath her words, Monette let out a sigh of relief in her helmet. .......And,

“Don’t be weird.”

I continued to move my tongue as if I hadn’t noticed the blaming glare Percival had started giving me.

“What’s wrong with saying something is weird when it is weird?”

“I just got a little sleepy.”

“Miss Monette, thank you. You really are such a kind girl. And what a cute kitty-cat. You really are good at drawing.”

“Stop it! Don’t repeat my words!”

If you recreate his weird behavior from last night, Percival will panic and stop.

Apparently his weirdness is embarrassing for him, and he cannot help but to boil up like a red tomato. Monette laughed in her helmet.

Then, once the sun had risen a little, I resumed packing, and I spread out the clothes I had on hand.

While it is a little simple, I look at a lovely white dress with a ribbon on the chest. I like the rough comfort of it, so I decided to take it. I folded it up and packed it into a corner of the trunk.

“What is that now?” were the words spoken at that moment. Looking at Percival, he had an expression that showed he was truly surprised by something.

“What is what?”

“Is that a one-piece dress?”

“I wear it in my room. Now go away. I don’t want you to watch me pack my clothes.”

Monette is glaring at the man who has no delicacy.

On the other hand, Percival was still stunned and muttered to himself, “Miss Monette?” His despicable face says that he honestly can’t believe it, and it frustrates Monette.

Why are you surprised so much just from me packing and filling my trunk with cute clothes?

“How rude. I’m sure even you put on clothes you enjoy when you’re in your own room.”

“No, well......will they fit?”

“What are you asking? Are you trying to say that I’m fat?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“That’s not it, you won’t be able to fit in your arms, shoulders, or even your head........”

I see the color of puzzlement in Percival’s face and hear it in his voice as he continues to inquire, “Doesn’t it rip?” and “How do you wear it?” He is not being disdainful or combative; he was purely curious from the bottom of his heart.

Monette could not understand what Percival was trying to say in such a state, and she tilted her head with her helmet making a loud noise.

No matter what, you should understand without me explaining how someone puts on a simple one-piece.

His head is clearly overheating, and he threw his hands out to me for an explanation. Of course by taking of this full-body armor I am wearing.

.... .... Take off this armor.

“... ...Because I will take it off when I am alone?”

“Take it off?”

“Because there is a person inside? The armor isn’t the main body.”

As I explained to him that if armor can be put on, it can be taken off, Percival just stares blankly at me for awhile.....

“Yosh, I will go pick out some wine.”

And he turned away and left. Did he just wave a white flag?

Monette’s eyes coldly stared daggers into his back as he left, but since it was through her helmet, it probably didn’t hit Percival. ......No, maybe he could feel something on his back because it started to exude an uncomfortable and miserable feeling.

“...After all, why was that guy’s gaze following me?”

I tilted my head in wonder, but I decided to just go back to packing.